{"id":410081,"date":"2026-01-13T12:42:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T12:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/410081\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T12:42:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T12:42:17","slug":"lomax-could-still-end-up-in-melbourne-according-to-former-tigers-chairman-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/410081\/","title":{"rendered":"Lomax could still end up in Melbourne, according to former Tigers chairman &#8211; NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/nrl\/teams\/melbourne-storm\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Melbourne Storm<\/a> remain interested in signing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/players\/zac-lomax\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Zac Lomax<\/a> for the 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NRL<\/a> season, but legal expert Lee Hagipantelis believes the Eels hold a strong position following their rejection of Melbourne&#8217;s initial request.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Speaking on SEN, the former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/nrl\/teams\/wests-tigers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wests Tigers<\/a> chairman said Lomax&#8217;s conditional release from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/nrl\/teams\/parramatta-eels\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Parramatta Eels<\/a> was negotiated in good faith and would be difficult to overturn.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cThe release between Parramatta and the player is a contract which was negotiated in good faith, and Zac entered into that contract with eyes wide open,\u201d Hagipantelis said.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-219857\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"NRL Round 2, 2025: Parramatta Eels vs Wests Tigers\" width=\"1631\" height=\"1087\" data-lazy- data-lazy- data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/089A5056_e.jpg.webp.webp\"\/>SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA &#8211; MARCH 16: Zac Lomax preparing to take a run during the round two NRL match between Parramatta Eels and Wests Tigers at CommBank Stadium, on March 16, 2025, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Joshua Davis\/Zero Digital Sports)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cThe question now is, can he get out of that contract and if so, how?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Hagipantelis suggested Lomax could attempt to challenge the agreement as an unlawful restraint of trade, but warned the courts are unlikely to intervene given the Eels and Storm are direct <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NRL<\/a> competitors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cThe courts are very cautious about applying those kinds of principles just because a player has made a bad deal and circumstances have changed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Instead, Hagipantelis believes any outcome is more likely to come via negotiation rather than legal action.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cI think Zac is up against it, and the only way it&#8217;s going to be done is by a negotiated settlement between him, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/nrl\/teams\/melbourne-storm\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Melbourne Storm<\/a> and Parramatta.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">He added compensation would be central to any potential deal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cIt&#8217;s all about the C-word &#8211; compensation\u2026 What&#8217;s in it for Parramatta?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cThat&#8217;s where it&#8217;s going to end, I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s going to see the inside of a courtroom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">As it stands, Lomax remains contracted to the Eels through 2028, with any move to the Storm dependent on Parramatta being satisfied with what&#8217;s offered in return.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melbourne Storm remain interested in signing Zac Lomax for the 2026 NRL season, but legal expert Lee Hagipantelis&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-410081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}